Community Sandbox Program

I know that the Community Sandbox program is well-loved by many residents within Ward Anirniq. I’ve heard from a number of people about how important this City-provided service is in keeping their pathways safe and accessible.

Changes are coming to this program in response to public engagement feedback and an audit on City operations. The change is also about finding efficiencies while still providing quality service to Edmontonians, as part of the work of OP12. 

Here’s what you need to know about the Community Sandbox program and what changes you can expect:

The Community Sandbox Program has been around for over 30 years, growing by over 400% since 2016 and resulting in over 700 sandboxes in Edmonton!

In fact, the City did a review to understand and compare the sandbox programs of different winter cities across Canada, and even some in the United States. They found that the majority of municipalities have less than 20 boxes. 

Over the next 2 winters, this program will focus on fewer, more centralized sandboxes that are evenly distributed across neighbourhoods throughout Edmonton. This will eliminate some of the smaller sandboxes that require more staffing and time to monitor and refill.

This will save $800,000 annually which will go towards enhancing service delivery in other areas of Snow and Ice Control.

For example, I’ve heard from frustration from residents about how the sandboxes are often empty due to the sheer number of sandboxes that city staff need to monitor and refill. With this change, even though you may see that there are not as many sandboxes in your neighbourhood, when you do go to the nearest sandbox, it will be more likely to have sand in it.  

Reducing and centralizing the sandboxes in communities, strikes the right balance between convenience, cost-effectiveness, and equitable access to sand for all residents. 

2023-24 & 2024-25 Winter Seasons

In the 2023-24 winter season, a small number of community sandboxes will be removed from areas that are near the centralized sandboxes, or where demand for sand is lower. There will still be more than 600 sandboxes available and maintained throughout this season. Messages will be posted near the sandboxes before removal to inform users of the program changes. 

By the 2024-25 winter season, the city aims to have 100 centralized sites distributed across the city.

To stay informed about these changes and find your nearest sandbox locations, visit: edmonton.ca/CommunitySandboxes